Referendum to block most recent Butte pot growing rules certified

Denice Lessard carries a box of petitions with 12,262 signatures that she hopes will either force the Butte supervisors to rescind a marijuana cultivation ordinance or force the question to go before county voters as a referendum. To her left is Andrew Merkel who has been an active medical marijuana advocate and opponent of the current ordinance.

OROVILLE >> A referendum petition aimed at blocking Butte County's most recently enacted marijuana cultivation rules has been certified as having enough signatures to be valid.

The referendum targets parts of the cultivation ordinance passed in February that limits the size of a marijuana garden. The rule allows gardens from 50 square-feet to 150 square-feet depending on the size of the parcel, and also sets minimum setbacks between the garden and the property line, again depending on the lot size.

With the petition certified, the question of what to do with the referendum will go to the Butte County Board of Supervisors at the panel's regular meeting Tuesday.

Under state law the board has three options. It can vote to rescind the ordinance immediately, put the measure before county voters during the November general election, or have a special election on the matter.

The county is predicting that putting the referendum on the November ballot would cost about $50,000.

The opponents of the ordinance said the rules governing the size of allowable gardens are too restrictive.

Almost immediately after the supervisors adopted the ordinance in February, an organization calling itself Butte County Citizens Against Irresponsible Government launched the referendum.

On March 12, petitioners delivered boxes containing petitions carrying more than 12,000 signatures on them to the county offices in Oroville.

According to an April 9 letter signed by County Clerk/Recorder Candace J. Grubbs, the county's chief election officer, 9,050 signatures were verified. The petition had to have at least 7,605.

This is not the first time Butte County has been through this process related to medical marijuana.

In May 2011, after months of often loud and hostile hearings, the supervisors adopted a marijuana cultivation ordinance that among other things said no plants could be grown on a lot smaller than a half-acre. The number of plants allowed increased with a parcel's size up to a maximum of 99 on sites larger than 160 acres.

That ordinance was the target of a successful referendum, and supervisors voted to put the issue on the June 2012 primary election ballot.

Nearly 56 percent of those voting, 27,701 people, voted against the county's ordinance, with 22,722 votes or 45 percent in support

Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the County Administration Building at 25 County Center Drive, in Oroville.